Don Quixote and Saint Ignatius of Loyola

In the Sunday Talk column of The Catholic Times, a Spanish Literature university professor offers some insight into understanding St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose feast day we recently celebrated.

Don Quixote is a renowned classic literary work. However, many people misunderstand the protagonist, Don Quixote. Don Quixote is not a ‘madman’ or a ‘delusional person’. The Royal Spanish Academy defines Don Quixote as “a person who prioritizes ideals over personal gain and acts selflessly and devotedly for a righteous cause.” In other words, he is an ‘idealist’ and ‘hero’ who plunges into an absurd world to realize justice.

Don Quixote bears a resemblance to Spain's saint, Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556). This is not the author's claim but the view of Miguel de Unamuno, a prominent Spanish philosopher of the early 20th century. In Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho, Unamuno analyzed not only the behavioral patterns but also the character and spiritual commonalities between the two figures.

First, their appearance and temperament are similar. Both have broad foreheads, are balding, serious, and hot-tempered, and are often unable to control their anger. Such individuals are typically destined to become knights. Reading also served as a turning point in their lives. Just as Don Quixote, after devouring chivalric romances, resolved to become a knight-errant himself and right the wrongs of the world, Ignatius, after reading the lives of Jesus and the saints, decided to emulate their lives.

Their actions of impulsively leaving home to become a knight-errant (Don Quixote) and a pilgrim (Ignatius), despite their families' pleas, are also strikingly similar. Ignatius's actions in late March 1522—stopping at the Monastery of Montserrat to seek confession from a priest and perform an all-night penance—evoke the episode in Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Don Quixote where he stops at an inn, asks the innkeeper to knight him, and stands guard.

Meanwhile, while riding a mule to Montserrat, Ignatius encountered a Moor who insulted the Virgin Mary and fled. Ignatius pursued him, intent on revenge with his sword, but hesitated at a fork in the road. This hesitation stemmed from his recent conversion, where he resolved to leave his rough past behind and become a new man. After deep contemplation, he decided to leave the execution of his revenge to Heaven's will, loosening the reins and letting the mule go where it pleased. Fortunately, the mule veered not onto the main road where the Moor had fled, but onto a narrow path leading toward Montserrat.

This anecdote, recounted by Ignatius in his autobiography The Pilgrim, resembles scenes in Don Quixote where the knight-errant, having left home, believes each fork in the road is determined by fate and leaves the choice to his steed, Rocinante (Part I, Chapters 2 and 4). Unamuno interprets their actions as “the deepest humility and absolute submission to God's will.”

Beyond this, they share resemblances in many aspects: the courage to leap into adventure, a pilgrim-like existence, respect for the socially vulnerable, confidence rooted in faith, and even the solitary moment of facing death. Yet their most fundamental commonality lies in their noble spirit—unbowed by hostile environments, relentlessly pursuing idealistic values. Unamuno held up these figures, Ignatius and Don Quixote, as prime examples of the sublime ‘Spanish spirit’.

When you think about it, even saints have nationalities. To understand a saint from Spain, one must grasp the temperament and national character of its people. Those wishing to feel Saint Ignatius more deeply and emotionally this autumn, the columnist recommends reading the novel.